


Mission: Befriend!

by VeloxVoid



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokemon Ranger, Pokemon Ranger Shadows of Almia
Genre: Altru Tower, Catching Pokemon, Fiore Region, Forests, Friendship, Gen, Happy Ending, Pokemon Ranger - Freeform, Pokemon Ranger: Vatonage | Shadows of Almia, Returning Home, Team Bonding, Team Dim Sun (Pokemon)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:14:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28776642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeloxVoid/pseuds/VeloxVoid
Summary: Kellyn is a renowned Pokémon Ranger, so he is troubled when the Absol he catches doesn't warm up to him. In an attempt to console himself, he returns back to his home — to the region of Fiore. When they arrive, however, they are faced with a challenge they must overcome together.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Mission: Befriend!

Fierce magenta light consumed the Absol’s body, dissipating to reveal nothing except the dark, damp earth of the forest floor beneath it.

Kellyn released a long sigh — a breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding. His heart still pounded as he lowered his arm, glancing over the words that glowed upon his Capture Styler. Absentmindedly scanning the information, the Ranger felt his heart sink, and he turned around to look out at his surroundings.

Beyond the treeline just a few metres away, he could see the remains of Altru Tower — or Peace Tower, as it was now called — carved dark and foreboding against the cerulean skyline. The tower was different now. After Team Dim Sun had fled its premises, leaving it nothing but an empty shell, the atmosphere had begun to feel different. Now, it felt more tranquil and calm — a much nicer place to explore, and somewhere he could meander when he had nothing else to do. Long gone were the inky indigo clouds curdling the sky above the tower and the eerie buzz in the air emitted from the Shadow Crystal’s generators. Now, the morning sky was clear: blue and cloudless, with an impressive murmuration of Starly trailing their way across the aether.

Upon a bored morning walk through the Peace Tower’s surrounding forest, Kellyn had seen an Absol. It was a majestic Pokémon; its pristine white fur and curved, scythe-like horn atop its head struck Kellyn as beautiful, yet he knew Absol’s truth was far from that. To find it wandering near such a place as the old Altru Tower had given him a bad feeling — that perhaps Dim Sun had returned, or that the horrors that had taken place inside the tower hadn’t been over.

He’d tried to reason with himself; he knew that if  _ true _ danger encroached, the Absol would have run to warn people — it would show itself before the residents of Pueltown, or even Altru Park, to foreshadow some sort of disaster. Instead, Kellyn had found the Absol normally, watching it slink through the forest underbrush with no sense of urgency. The sight of the Pokémon looking so alone, almost forlorn, had tugged at Kellyn’s heartstrings. He had scratched at his Pachirusu’s tail tufts, readied his Capture Styler, and they had gotten to work.

Having successfully captured it, all Kellyn wanted to do was leave this place — the place that reminded him of horrors long passed. Calling forth Staraptor, he climbed onto the back of the bird and directed it upwards.

Powerful feathered wings beat down audibly against the dense forest air until they rose, bursting through the scratchy needles of the evergreen canopy above them. The journey was going to be a long one, but Kellyn didn’t mind. 

After Team Dim Sun had been disbanded, and Kellyn’s quests had dwindled until he’d become almost redundant, he had found himself feeling lost — without purpose. Now, on the back of Staraptor, with his partner Pachirisu and his newfound Absol residing soundly in his Capture Styler, Kellyn directed Staraptor gently, on autopilot towards a place he knew well. Towards a place he hoped could heal him. Towards a place he loved more than anywhere else.

Fiore was across a slight expanse of water, but luckily for him, Staraptor was used to long journeys. Coasting on an ocean air current, the Ranger and his Pokémon watched the horizon for hours. Eventually, the Fiore region climbed above the sapphire waters to meet them, its dense greenery and towering crags making an easy smile slip across Kellyn’s face. He felt relief fill him; the very presence of the region he called home calmed him, made him forget his past woes and the challenges that came with his new life.

Upon Staraptor’s back, watching cities and towns pass below him as they flew across Fiore, Kellyn realised he was headed to one place in particular.

Lyra Forest had always been his place of comfort. Watching Pokémon scamper through the trees and across the fields was what had inspired him to become a Pokémon Ranger all those years ago. As he saw the forest rushing below him, he finally relaxed. His chest seemed to release his anxieties — letting out a breath he felt he’d been holding for years — and all felt well. Kellyn gestured for Staraptor to descend, and the bird began slowly circling down towards the forest’s fields.

The atmosphere of Lyra was different from the one in the woodlands that surrounded the Peace Tower back in Almia. Lyra’s towering trees didn’t remind Kellyn of the peril he’d endured at Dim Sun’s hands, but instead made his heart sing soft melodies of nostalgia, reminding him of times spent there with his parents as a child. It wasn’t teeming with brooding, powerful Pokémon ready to attack at a moment’s notice; instead, the Pokémon here were mild-mannered, with curious Beautifly and Zigzagoon dashing over to Staraptor’s feet as the bird landed.

Kellyn breathed a laugh as he stepped down into the emerald grass beneath, feeling the sun beat down on the back of his neck from above. Staraptor made a squawk, and the Ranger scratched the feathers beneath its chin.

“Thanks for all your hard work. Take a break.”

Staraptor was happy to oblige, sitting down and outstretching its wings to bask beneath the Fiore sunbeams. More curious Pokémon approached to sniff around them — a Bulbasaur lumbered over and, behind some longer grass in the distance, a Scyther poked out its head.

From within his Capture Styler, Kellyn let his Pokémon loose. Pachirisu appeared beside him, fluffing up its fur and giving a shake, squeaking tired little noises as it often did upon being woken up. The team’s newest addition, however, didn’t greet Kellyn nearly so politely. As the Styler’s beams of light fizzled into the midday air, Absol adjusted itself and stood proudly, fixing the Ranger with a scarlet gaze.

“It’s nice to meet you, Absol,” Kellyn said, stepping closer and kneeling down. At eye level with the Pokémon, he outstretched his hand to allow it to catch his scent. Pachirisu hopped up onto Kellyn’s back, scaling his body until it sat on his shoulder. “Sorry I had to catch you like that. I just thought you might be better off away from that place. Bad things happened there, and…” He looked around himself, at the lush forest surrounding him and the rolling field he knelt in. “... Well, there are much nicer places to live.”

Absol’s eyes blinked back at him slowly, their pupils mere slits against fierce crimson irises. The Pokémon was silent and unmoving, and Kellyn felt a chill creep down his spine as he lowered his hand. It was as if the air around them grew colder — the atmosphere around the Absol positively chilly. Even Pachirisu seemed to pick up on it, snuggling closer to Kellyn’s face and wrapping its tail around itself.

Some Pokémon were harder to tame. Kellyn knew that — he had been warned about it back in Ranger classes. But befriending Pokémon was perhaps his favourite part of the job; he had been complimented on his abilities, and that was a trait he was proud of. Kellyn gave the Absol a smile. “Not gonna come around so easily, huh?”

Around where Staraptor sat, the curious Scyther had now approached, regarding the bird with cautious eyes. As Kellyn began to walk towards Staraptor, gesturing with his head for Absol to follow him, Scyther’s attention turned towards him. It raised its bladed arms, opened its mouth to bear small pointed teeth, and stepped forwards.

A challenge.

“Care to be part of the team?” Kellyn asked with a smirk.

The Scyther cocked its head, narrowing its eyes.

Sensing a capture in the air, Staraptor stood and hopped to the sidelines, Pachirisu jumping from off of Kellyn’s shoulder to join it. Scyther squared up as the other surrounding Pokémon sped away back into the forest, and Absol padded to Kellyn’s side on silent paws.

Befriending Pokémon — especially more fearsome ones — was simply part of the Pokémon Ranger job description. Kellyn had caught his new Absol, intending to partner up with it for a better life, but gaining its trust was a whole other issue. What better way was there to befriend Pokémon than to call on its Poké Assist amidst a capture? The Scyther looked tough, but Kellyn knew Absol was tougher. He readied his Styler and felt Absol stand still at his side, hackles raised and prepared to join the fray.

“Ready, Absol?”

The Pokémon almost seemed to nod, lowering its head at the Scyther.

“Capture on!”


End file.
